Artificial intelligence will make business better

Cognitive systems are transforming the way companies engage with their customers.

Once limited to the realms of science fiction, artificial intelligence has transcended the boundaries of academic curiosity and Hollywood’s imagination into something with measurable influence on our daily lives.

AI technologies have been developed and commoditised for the average consumer (think Siri) and business. Cognitive systems are transforming the way companies engage with customers.

The next frontier is the automation and transformation of professional roles in the workforce.

The term automate has a slightly different meaning when it comes to professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants. It has more to do with job enhancement, a way to use business aids at the best possible moment.

Finding the right mix of human ingenuity and AI is key. It is not a threat but provides an almost unlimited source of opportunities.

The rapid pace of technology plus the “big data” phenomenon has led to machines that perform high-level cognitive tasks. AI will enhance and change the way professionals interact with clients and each other, forcing workers to adapt to their habits and skills.

Professionals will collaborate more and more with AI assistants who will do much, if not all, of the monotonous work of filtering through data, providing options and entering information, while professionals will supply creativity and make critical decisions.

Cognitive computing is scaling up and accelerating expertise, as long as professionals work in tandem. Man-to-machine collaboration may become a new way of working for most people.

IBM Watson, for example, is helping Singapore-based DBS Bank’s relationship managers analyse large volumes of complex data, including research reports, product information and customer profiles.

Instead of spending hours poring through market reports, DBS relationship managers use AI to provide the right information from reports distilled by IBM Watson. They can use their time to build relationships and meet clients, leaving data analysis to machines.

In the future, AI could play a key role in improving the customer experience.

A smart business engine can determine if a customer is doing self-service in a way that hurts the business and then escalate that information to a call centre agent, to try to satisfy the customer within the business goals.

This approach could be extended to each step of the customer journey: an AI-enabled decision engine that could leverage sophisticated machine-learning capabilities and huge amounts of contextual data to determine, in real-time, every step of every customer journey.

People would systematically enjoy optimal customer journeys, based on AI-powered optimisation and personalisation.

All of this is very promising.

Applying Moore’s law — overall processing power for computers will double every two years — to human expertise in business will lead to new horizons for many professionals and further enhance business agendas.

While AI does not spell the end to human interaction, there is still a great deal more for us to explore as we continue the interface between humans and machines.

Remy Claret is the product marketing director at Genesys.